Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures Inc., the country’s leading chain of full-service restaurants, said Thursday it will spend up to P500 million to open 20 stores this year as aims to sustain the double-digit growth in sales and profits. SPAVI president and chief executive Vicente Gregorio said in an interview following the company’s annual stockholders meeting the company was expecting a “mid-teen” growth in net income this year, slower than the 30-percent rise in 2016. “With regard to input cost, like many of our peers in the sector, we expected to face headwinds with regard to our input and operating expenses, particularly in the second half of 2017,” Gregorio said. “To address these margin concerns, we will focus on improving efficiencies and lowering operating cost items. We will review overhead items as we attempt to grow leaner and meaner,” he said.

Source: The Standard July 20, 2017 13:07 UTC